Player focused wagering system

ABSTRACT

A system for player focused play by play wagering on live sporting events in which users identify favorite players and a wagering network offers that user player focused wagering opportunities and allow the user to build upon that wager with new player focused wagering opportunities that are based upon their previous wagering selections.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present patent application claims benefit and priority to U.S.Continuation application Ser. No. 17/070,118 entitled “PLAYER FOCUSEDWAGERING SYSTEM” filed on Oct. 14, 2020 and U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 63/081,561 entitled “PLAYER FOCUSED WAGERING SYSTEM”filed on Sep. 22, 2020 which is hereby incorporated by reference intothe present disclosure.

FIELD

The embodiments are generally related to play by play wagering on livesporting events focused on individual players.

BACKGROUND

Current sports betting platforms provide numerous different ways towager on entire sporting events, or individual aspects or portions ofthose events. The number of these options continues to increase, makingit difficult for a user to know how best wager on sports. Beingoverwhelmed with options can lead to users making poor bets and becomingdiscouraged with the process.

Sports fandom has shifted recently with fans being more attached to aparticular player than any one team, making it more difficult to delivercontent that will maintain their engagement.

SUMMARY

Embodiments can include various methods, systems, and apparatuses forwagering. One embodiment includes a system for wagering on multipleelements of a single play of a live sporting event related to a playerof interest, including: a wagering network that hosts in-play wageringon live sporting events; and a user database with user preferences; oddsfor wagers are available on multiple potential outcomes for single playsinside of a live sporting event; and wagers are offered on the wageringnetwork on potential outcomes for a favorite player in a play of a livesporting event.

Another exemplary embodiment includes a computer implemented method forproviding wagering on multiple elements of a single play of a livesporting event related to a player of interest, including executing on aprocessor the steps of: displaying a gambling game on a device;displaying one or more favorite players or, if there are no favoriteplayers, prompting a selection of one or more favorite players;displaying one or more first wager options for at least one favoriteplayer in play in a live sporting event; and displaying one or morewagers placed on the at least one favorite player in the play in thelive sporting event.

BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings illustrate various embodiments of systems,methods, and various other aspects of the embodiments. Any person withordinary skills in the art will appreciate that the illustrated elementboundaries (e.g. boxes, groups of boxes, or other shapes) in the figuresrepresent an example of the boundaries. It may be understood that, insome examples, one element may be designed as multiple elements or thatmultiple elements may be designed as one element. In some examples, anelement shown as an internal component of one element may be implementedas an external component in another, and vice versa. Furthermore,elements may not be drawn to scale. Non-limiting and non-exhaustivedescriptions are described with reference to the following drawings. Thecomponents in the figures are not necessarily to scale, emphasis insteadbeing placed upon illustrating principles.

FIG. 1 illustrates a player focused wagering system, according to anembodiment.

FIG. 2 illustrates a user database, according to an embodiment.

FIG. 3 illustrates a wagering module, according to an embodiment.

FIG. 4 illustrates a favorites module, according to an embodiment.

FIG. 5 illustrates a tiered wagering module, according to an embodiment.

FIG. 6 illustrates a tier database, according to an embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Aspects of the present invention are disclosed in the followingdescription and related figures directed to specific embodiments of theinvention. Those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize thatalternate embodiments may be devised without departing from the spiritor the scope of the claims. Additionally, well-known elements ofexemplary embodiments of the invention will not be described in detailor will be omitted so as not to obscure the relevant details of theinvention

As used herein, the word exemplary means serving as an example, instanceor illustration. The embodiments described herein are not limiting, butrather are exemplary only. It should be understood that the describedembodiments are not necessarily to be construed as preferred oradvantageous over other embodiments. Moreover, the terms embodiments ofthe invention, embodiments or invention do not require that allembodiments of the invention include the discussed feature, advantage,or mode of operation.

Further, many of the embodiments described herein are described in termsof sequences of actions to be performed by, for example, elements of acomputing device. It should be recognized by those skilled in the artthat the various sequence of actions described herein can be performedby specific circuits (e.g., application specific integrated circuits(ASICs)) and/or by program instructions executed by at least oneprocessor. Additionally, the sequence of actions described herein can beembodied entirely within any form of computer-readable storage mediumsuch that execution of the sequence of actions enables the processor toperform the functionality described herein. Thus, the various aspects ofthe present invention may be embodied in a number of different forms,all of which have been contemplated to be within the scope of theclaimed subject matter. In addition, for each of the embodimentsdescribed herein, the corresponding form of any such embodiments may bedescribed herein as, for example, a computer configured to perform thedescribed action.

With respect to the embodiments, a summary of terminology used herein isprovided.

An action refers to a specific play or specific movement in a sportingevent. For example, an action may determine which players were involvedduring a sporting event. In some embodiments, an action may be a throw,shot, pass, swing, kick, hit, performed by a participant in a sportingevent. In some embodiments, an action may be a strategic decision madeby a participant in the sporting event such as a player, coach,management, etc. In some embodiments, an action may be a penalty, foul,or type of infraction occurring in a sporting event. In someembodiments, an action may include the participants of the sportingevent. In some embodiments, an action may include beginning events ofsporting event, for example opening tips, coin flips, opening pitch,national anthem singers, etc. In some embodiments, a sporting event maybe football, hockey, basketball, baseball, golf, tennis, soccer,cricket, rugby, MMA, boxing, swimming, skiing, snowboarding, horseracing, car racing, boat racing, cycling, wrestling, Olympic sport,eSports, etc. Actions can be integrated into the embodiments in avariety of manners.

A “bet” or “wager” is to risk something, usually a sum of money, againstsomeone else's or an entity on the basis of the outcome of a futureevent, such as the results of a game or event. It may be understood thatnon-monetary items may be the subject of a “bet” or “wager” as well,such as points or anything else that can be quantified for a “wager” or“bet.” A bettor refers to a person who bets or wagers. A bettor may alsobe referred to as a user, client, or participant throughout the presentinvention. A “bet” or “wager” could be made for obtaining or risking acoupon or some enhancements to the sporting event, such as better seats,VIP treatment, etc. A “bet” or “wager” can be done for certain amount orfor a future time. A “bet” or “wager” can be done for being able toanswer a question correctly. A “bet” or “wager” can be done within acertain period of time. A “bet” or “wager” can be integrated into theembodiments in a variety of manners.

A “book” or “sportsbook” refers to a physical establishment that acceptsbets on the outcome of sporting events. A “book” or “sportsbook” systemenables a human working with a computer to interact, according to set ofboth implicit and explicit rules, in an electronically powered domainfor the purpose of placing bets on the outcome of sporting event. Anadded game refers to an event not part of the typical menu of wageringofferings, often posted as an accommodation to patrons. A “book” or“sportsbook” can be integrated into the embodiments in a variety ofmanners.

To “buy points” means a player pays an additional price (more money) toreceive a half-point or more in the player's favor on a point spreadgame. Buying points means you can move a point spread, for example up totwo points in your favor. “Buy points” can be integrated into theembodiments in a variety of manners.

The “price” refers to the odds or point spread of an event. To “take theprice” means betting the underdog and receiving its advantage in thepoint spread. “Price” can be integrated into the embodiments in avariety of manners.

“No action” means a wager in which no money is lost or won, and theoriginal bet amount is refunded. “No action” can be integrated into theembodiments in a variety of manners.

The “sides” are the two teams or individuals participating in an event:the underdog and the favorite. The term “favorite” refers to the teamconsidered most likely to win an event or game. The “chalk” refers to afavorite, usually a heavy favorite. Bettors who like to bet bigfavorites are referred to “chalk eaters” (often a derogatory term). Anevent or game in which the sports book has reduced its betting limits,usually because of weather or the uncertain status of injured players isreferred to as a “circled game.” “Laying the points or price” meansbetting the favorite by giving up points. The term “dog” or “underdog”refers to the team perceived to be most likely to lose an event or game.A “longshot” also refers to a team perceived to be unlikely to win anevent or game. “Sides”, “favorite”, “chalk”, “circled game”, “laying thepoints price”, “dog” and “underdog” can be integrated into theembodiments in a variety of manners.

The “money line” refers to the odds expressed in terms of money. Withmoney odds, whenever there is a minus (−) the player “lays” or is“laying” that amount to win (for example $100); where there is a plus(+) the player wins that amount for every $100 wagered. A “straight bet”refers to an individual wager on a game or event that will be determinedby a point spread or money line. The term “straight-up” means winningthe game without any regard to the “point spread”; a “money-line” bet.“Money line”, “straight bet”, “straight-up” can be integrated into theembodiments in a variety of manners.

The “line” refers to the current odds or point spread on a particularevent or game. The “point spread” refers to the margin of points inwhich the favored team must win an event by to “cover the spread.” To“cover” means winning by more than the “point spread”. A handicap of the“point spread” value is given to the favorite team so bettors can choosesides at equal odds. “Cover the spread” means that a favorite win anevent with the handicap considered or the underdog wins with additionalpoints. To “push” refers to when the event or game ends with no winneror loser for wagering purposes, a tie for wagering purposes. A “tie” isa wager in which no money is lost or won because the teams' scores wereequal to the number of points in the given “point spread”. The “openingline” means the earliest line posted for a particular sporting event orgame. The term “pick” or “pick 'em” refers to a game when neither teamis favored in an event or game. “Line”, “cover the spread”, “cover”,“tie”, “pick” and “pick-em” can be integrated into the embodiments in avariety of manners.

To “middle” means to win both sides of a game; wagering on the“underdog” at one point spread and the favorite at a different pointspread and winning both sides. For example, if the player bets theunderdog +4½ and the favorite −3½ and the favorite wins by 4, the playerhas middled the book and won both bets. “Middle” can be integrated intothe embodiments in a variety of manners.

Digital gaming refers to any type of electronic environment that can becontrolled or manipulated by a human user for entertainment purposes. Asystem that enables a human and a computer to interact according to setof both implicit and explicit rules, in an electronically powered domainfor the purpose of recreation or instruction. “eSports” refers to a formof sports competition using video games, or a multiplayer video gameplayed competitively for spectators, typically by professional gamers.Digital gaming and “eSports” can be integrated into the embodiments in avariety of manners.

The term event refers to a form of play, sport, contest, or game,especially one played according to rules and decided by skill, strength,or luck. In some embodiments, an event may be football, hockey,basketball, baseball, golf, tennis, soccer, cricket, rugby, MMA, boxing,swimming, skiing, snowboarding, horse racing, car racing, boat racing,cycling, wrestling, Olympic sport, etc. Event can be integrated into theembodiments in a variety of manners.

The “total” is the combined number of runs, points or goals scored byboth teams during the game, including overtime. The “over” refers to asports bet in which the player wagers that the combined point total oftwo teams will be more than a specified total. The “under” refers tobets that the total points scored by two teams will be less than acertain figure. “Total”, “over”, and “under” can be integrated into theembodiments in a variety of manners.

A “parlay” is a single bet that links together two or more wagers; towin the bet, the player must win all the wagers in the “parlay”. If theplayer loses one wager, the player loses the entire bet. However, if hewins all the wagers in the “parlay”, the player wins a higher payoffthan if the player had placed the bets separately. A “round robin” is aseries of parlays. A “teaser” is a type of parlay in which the pointspread, or total of each individual play is adjusted. The price ofmoving the point spread (teasing) is lower payoff odds on winningwagers. “Parlay”, “round robin”, “teaser” can be integrated into theembodiments in a variety of manners.

A “prop bet” or “proposition bet” means a bet that focuses on theoutcome of events within a given game. Props are often offered onmarquee games of great interest. These include Sunday and Monday nightpro football games, various high-profile college football games, majorcollege bowl games and playoff and championship games. An example of aprop bet is “Which team will score the first touchdown?” “Prop bet” or“proposition bet” can be integrated into the embodiments in a variety ofmanners.

A “first-half bet” refers to a bet placed on the score in the first halfof the event only and only considers the first half of the game orevent. The process in which you go about placing this bet is the sameprocess that you would use to place a full game bet, but as previouslymentioned, only the first half is important to a first-half bet type ofwager. A “half-time bet” refers to a bet placed on scoring in the secondhalf of a game or event only. “First-half-bet” and “half-time-bet” canbe integrated into the embodiments in a variety of manners.

A “futures bet” or “future” refers to the odds that are posted well inadvance on the winner of major events, typical future bets are the ProFootball Championship, Collegiate Football Championship, the ProBasketball Championship, the Collegiate Basketball Championship, and thePro Baseball Championship. “Futures bet” or “future” can be integratedinto the embodiments in a variety of manners.

The “listed pitchers” is specific to a baseball bet placed only if bothof the pitchers scheduled to start a game actually start. If they don't,the bet is deemed “no action” and refunded. The “run line” in baseball,refers to a spread used instead of the money line. “Listed pitchers” and“no action” and “run line” can be integrated into the embodiments in avariety of manners.

The term “handle” refers to the total amount of bets taken. The term“hold” refers to the percentage the house wins. The term “juice” refersto the bookmaker's commission, most commonly the 11 to 10 bettors lay onstraight point spread wagers: also known as “vigorish” or “vig”. The“limit” refers to the maximum amount accepted by the house before theodds and/or point spread are changed. “Off the board” refers to a gamein which no bets are being accepted. “Handle”, “juice”, vigorish”, “vig”and “off the board” can be integrated into the embodiments in a varietyof manners.

“Casinos” are a public room or building where gambling games are played.“Racino” is a building complex or grounds having a racetrack andgambling facilities for playing slot machines, blackjack, roulette, etc.“Casino” and “Racino” can be integrated into the embodiments in avariety of manners.

Customers are companies, organizations or individual that would deploy,for fees, and may be part of, of perform, various system elements ormethod steps in the embodiments.

Managed service user interface service is a service that can helpcustomers (1) manage third parties, (2) develop the web, (3) do dataanalytics, (4) connect thru application program interfaces and (4) trackand report on player behaviors. A managed service user interface can beintegrated into the embodiments in a variety of manners.

Managed service risk management services are a service that assistscustomers with (1) very important person management, (2) businessintelligence, and (3) reporting. These managed service risk managementservices can be integrated into the embodiments in a variety of manners.

Managed service compliance service is a service that helps customersmanage (1) integrity monitoring, (2) play safety, (3) responsiblegambling and (4) customer service assistance. These managed servicecompliance services can be integrated into the embodiments in a varietyof manners.

Managed service pricing and trading service is a service that helpscustomers with (1) official data feeds, (2) data visualization and (3)land based, on property digital signage. These managed service pricingand trading services can be integrated into the embodiments in a varietyof manners.

Managed service and technology platform are services that helpscustomers with (1) web hosting, (2) IT support and (3) player accountplatform support. These managed service and technology platform servicescan be integrated into the embodiments in a variety of manners.

Managed service and marketing support services are services that helpcustomers (1) acquire and retain clients and users, (2) provide forbonusing options and (3) develop press release content generation. Thesemanaged service and marketing support services can be integrated intothe embodiments in a variety of manners.

Payment processing services are those services that help customers thatallow for (1) account auditing and (2) withdrawal processing to meetstandards for speed and accuracy. Further, these services can providefor integration of global and local payment methods. These paymentprocessing services can be integrated into the embodiments in a varietyof manners.

Engaging promotions allow customers to treat your players to free bets,odds boosts, enhanced access and flexible cashback to boost lifetimevalue. Engaging promotions can be integrated into the embodiments in avariety of manners.

“Cash out” or “pay out” or “payout” allow customers to make available,on singles bets or accumulated bets with a partial cash out where eachoperator can control payouts by managing commission and availability atall times. The “cash out” or “pay out” or “payout” can be integratedinto the embodiments in a variety of manners, including both monetaryand non-monetary payouts, such as points, prizes, promotional ordiscount codes, and the like.

“Customized betting” allow customers to have tailored personalizedbetting experiences with sophisticated tracking and analysis of players'behavior. “Customized betting” can be integrated into the embodiments ina variety of manners.

Kiosks are devices that offer interactions with customers clients andusers with a wide range of modular solutions for both retail and onlinesports gaming. Kiosks can be integrated into the embodiments in avariety of manners.

Business Applications are an integrated suite of tools for customers tomanage the everyday activities that drive sales, profit, and growth,from creating and delivering actionable insights on performance to helpcustomers to manage the sports gaming. Business Applications can beintegrated into the embodiments in a variety of manners.

State based integration allows for a given sports gambling game to bemodified by states in the United States or countries, based upon thestate the player is in, based upon mobile phone or other geolocationidentification means. State based integration can be integrated into theembodiments in a variety of manners.

Game Configurator allow for configuration of customer operators to havethe opportunity to apply various chosen or newly created business ruleson the game as well as to parametrize risk management. Game configuratorcan be integrated into the embodiments in a variety of manners.

“Fantasy sports connector” are software connectors between method stepsor system elements in the embodiments that can integrate fantasy sports.Fantasy sports allow a competition in which participants selectimaginary teams from among the players in a league and score pointsaccording to the actual performance of their players. For example, if aplayer in a fantasy sports is playing at a given real time sports, oddscould be changed in the real time sports for that player.

Software as a service (or SaaS) is a method of software delivery andlicensing in which software is accessed online via a subscription,rather than bought and installed on individual computers. Software as aservice can be integrated into the embodiments in a variety of manners.

Synchronization of screens means synchronizing bets and results betweendevices, such as TV and mobile, PC and wearables. Synchronization ofscreens can be integrated into the embodiments in a variety of manners.

Automatic content recognition (ACR) is an identification technology torecognize content played on a media device or present in a media file.Devices containing ACR support enable users to quickly obtain additionalinformation about the content they see without any user-based input orsearch efforts. To start the recognition, a short media clip (audio,video, or both) is selected. This clip could be selected from within amedia file or recorded by a device. Through algorithms such asfingerprinting, information from the actual perceptual content is takenand compared to a database of reference fingerprints, each referencefingerprint corresponding to a known recorded work. A database maycontain metadata about the work and associated information, includingcomplementary media. If the fingerprint of the media clip is matched,the identification software returns the corresponding metadata to theclient application. For example, during an in-play sports game a“fumble” could be recognized and at the time stamp of the event,metadata such as “fumble” could be displayed. Automatic contentrecognition (ACR) can be integrated into the embodiments in a variety ofmanners.

Joining social media means connecting an in-play sports game bet orresult to a social media connection, such as a FACEBOOK® chatinteraction. Joining social media can be integrated into the embodimentsin a variety of manners.

Augmented reality means a technology that superimposes acomputer-generated image on a user's view of the real world, thusproviding a composite view. In an example of this invention, a real timeview of the game can be seen and a “bet” which is a computer-generateddata point is placed above the player that is bet on. Augmented realitycan be integrated into the embodiments in a variety of manners.

Some embodiments of this disclosure, illustrating all its features, willnow be discussed in detail. It can be understood that the embodimentsare intended to be open ended in that an item or items used in theembodiments is not meant to be an exhaustive listing of such item oritems, or meant to be limited to only the listed item or items.

It can be noted that as used herein and in the appended claims, thesingular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural references unless thecontext clearly dictates otherwise. Although any systems and methodssimilar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in thepractice or testing of embodiments, only some exemplary systems andmethods are now described.

FIG. 1 is a system for a player focused wagering system. This system mayinclude a live event 102, for example a sporting event such as afootball game, basketball game, baseball game, hockey game, tennismatch, golf tournament, eSports or digital game, etc. The live event 102will include some number of actions or plays, upon with a user or bettoror customer can place a bet or wager, typically through an entity calleda sportsbook. There are numerous types of wagers the bettor can make,including, a straight bet, a money line bet, a bet with a point spreador line that bettor's team would need to cover, if the result of thegame with the same as the point spread the user would not cover thespread, but instead the tie is called a push. If the user is betting onthe favorite, they are giving points to the opposing side, which is theunderdog or longshot. Betting on all favorites is referred to as chalk,this is typically applied to round robin, or other styles oftournaments. There are other types of wagers, including parlays, teasersand prop bets, that are added games, that often allow the user tocustomize their betting, by changing the odds and payouts they receiveon a wager. Certain sportsbooks will allow the bettor to buy points, tomove the point spread off of the opening line, this will increase theprice of the bet, sometimes by increasing the juice, vig, or hold thatthe sportsbook takes. Another type of wager the bettor can make is anover/under, in which the user bets over or under a total for the liveevent, such as the score of American football or the run line inbaseball, or a series of action in the live event. Sportsbooks have anumber of bets they can handle, a limit of wagers they can take oneither side of a bet before they will move the line or odds off of theopening line. Additionally, there are circumstance, such as an injury toan important player such as a listed pitcher, in which a sportsbook,casino or racino will take an available wager off the board. As the linemoves there becomes an opportunity for a bettor to bet on both sides atdifferent point spreads in order to middle and win both bets.Sportsbooks will often offer bets on portions of games, such as firsthalf bets and half-time bets. Additionally, the sportsbook can offerfutures bets on live events 102 in the future. Sportsbooks need to offerpayment processing services in order to cash out customers. This can bedone at kiosks at the live event or at another location.

Further, embodiments may include a plurality of sensors 104 that may beused such as motion sensors, temperature sensors, humidity sensors,cameras such as an RGB-D camera which is a digital camera capable ofcapturing color (RGB) and depth information for every pixel in an image,microphones, radiofrequency receiver, a thermal imager, a radar device,a lidar device, an ultrasound device, a speaker, wearable devices etc.Also, the plurality of sensors may include tracking devices, such asRFID tags, GPS chips or other such devices embedded on uniforms, inequipment, in the field of play, in the boundaries of the field of play,or other markers on the field of play. Imaging devices may also be usedas tracking devices such as player tracking that provides statisticalinformation through real-time X, Y positioning of players and X, Y, Zpositioning of the ball.

Further, embodiments may include a cloud 106 or communication networkthat may be a wired and/or a wireless network. The communicationnetwork, if wireless, may be implemented using communication techniquessuch as Visible Light Communication (VLC), Worldwide Interoperabilityfor Microwave Access (WiMAX), Long Term Evolution (LTE), Wireless LocalArea Network (WLAN), Infrared (IR) communication, Public SwitchedTelephone Network (PSTN), Radio waves, and other communicationtechniques known in the art. The communication network may allowubiquitous access to shared pools of configurable system resources andhigher-level services that can be rapidly provisioned with minimalmanagement effort, often over the Internet and relies on sharing ofresources to achieve coherence and economies of scale, like a publicutility, while third-party clouds allow organizations to focus on theircore businesses instead of expending resources on computerinfrastructure and maintenance. The cloud 106 may be communicativelycoupled to wagering network 108 which may perform real time analysis onthe type of play and the result of the play. The cloud 106 may also besynchronized with game situational data, such as the time of the game,the score, location on the field, weather conditions, and the like whichmay affect the choice of play utilized. For example, in other exemplaryembodiments, the cloud 106 may not receive data gathered from sensors104 and may, instead, receive data from an alternative data feed, suchas SportsRadar®. This data may be compiled substantially immediatelyfollowing the completion of any play and the data from this feed may becompared with a variety of team data and league data based on a varietyof elements, including down, possession, score, time, team, and soforth, as described in various exemplary embodiments herein.

Further, embodiments may include a wagering network 108 which mayperform real time analysis on the type of play and the result of a playor action. The wagering network 108 (or cloud 106) may also besynchronized with game situational data, such as the time of the game,the score, location on the field, weather conditions, and the like whichmay affect the choice of play utilized. For example, in other exemplaryembodiments, wagering network 108 may not receive data gathered fromsensors 104 and may, instead, receive data from an alternative datafeed, such as SportsRadar®. This data may be compiled substantiallyimmediately following the completion of any play and the data from thisfeed may be compared with a variety of team data and league data basedon a variety of elements, including down, possession, score, time, team,and so forth, as described in various exemplary embodiments herein. Thewagering network can offer a number of software as a service managedservices such as, user interface service, risk management service,compliance, pricing and trading service, IT support of the technologyplatform, business applications, game configuration, state basedintegration, fantasy sports connection, integration to allow the joiningof social media, as well as marketing support services that can deliverengaging promotions to the user.

Further, embodiments may include a user database 110 which contains datarelevant to all users of the system, which may include a user ID of theuser, a device identifier for their mobile device 126, a list of theplayers indicated as favorites by the user through the favorites module120, and could also include wagering history on the user, and otherrelevant user data.

Further, embodiments may include an odds calculation module 112 whichutilizes historical play data to calculate odds for in-play wagers.

Further, embodiments may include a historical plays database 114, thatcontains play data for the type of sport being played in live event 102.For example, in American football for optimal odds calculation, thehistorical play data should include meta data about the historicalplays, such as time, location, weather, previous plays, opponent,physiological data, etc.

Further, embodiments may include an odds database 116 that contains theodds calculated by the odds calculation module to display the odds theuser's mobile device 126 and to take bets from the user through themobile device wagering app 128.

Further, embodiments may include a wagering module 118 that allows theuser to place wagers on individual plays inside of the live event 102through the wagering app 128. The wagering module 118 will allow theuser to indicate favorite players and prompt the favorites module 120 ifthe user gives that indication. The wagering module 118 displays theavailable wagers related to at least one of the user's indicatedfavorite players from the odds database 116 on the mobile device 126. Aplayer indication of a wager on one of the presented wager options willprompt the tiered wagering module 122 to allow the user to build aquestion-based parlay. Once a wager is placed, the live event 102 ismonitored for the end of the play, in this example the whistle of thereferee in an America football game. The actual play result is comparedto the wager. The play result, wager, wager amount, and odds are thenused calculate the adjustment to the user's wallet information in theuser database 110. The wagering app 128 is then monitored for morewagers until the user logs off or the live event 102 is complete.

Further, embodiments may include a favorites module 120 that allowsusers to indicate player(s) they have a greater interest in wagering on.120. Further, embodiments may include a tiered wagering module 122 thatallows the user to build their initial wager into a parlay with aserious of additional wager offers, in which the additional wagersoffered are based upon the previous wager response as per the rules inthe tier database 122.

Further, embodiments may include a tier database 124 that contains therules used by the tiered wagering module 122 in determining which wagerto display for the user based upon the previous wager response.

Further, embodiments may include a mobile device 126 such as a computingdevice, laptop, smartphone, tablet, computer, smart speaker, or I/Odevices. I/O devices may be present in the computing device. Inputdevices may include keyboards, mice, trackpads, trackballs, touchpads,touch mice, multi-touch touchpads and touch mice, microphones,multi-array microphones, drawing tablets, cameras, single-lens reflexcamera (SLR), digital SLR (DSLR), CMOS sensors, accelerometers, infraredoptical sensors, pressure sensors, magnetometer sensors, angular ratesensors, depth sensors, proximity sensors, ambient light sensors,gyroscopic sensors, or other sensors. Output devices may include videodisplays, graphical displays, speakers, headphones, inkjet printers,laser printers, and 3D printers. Devices may include a combination ofmultiple input or output devices, including, e.g., Microsoft KINECT,Nintendo Wii mote for the WIT, Nintendo WII U GAMEPAD, or Apple IPHONE.Some devices allow gesture recognition inputs through combining some ofthe inputs and outputs. Some devices allow for facial recognition whichmay be utilized as an input for different purposes includingauthentication and other commands. Some devices allow for voicerecognition and inputs, including, e.g., Microsoft KINECT, SIRI forIPHONE by Apple, Google Now or Google Voice Search. Additional userdevices have both input and output capabilities, including, e.g., hapticfeedback devices, touchscreen displays, or multi-touch displays.Touchscreen, multi-touch displays, touchpads, touch mice, or other touchsensing devices may use different technologies to sense touch,including, e.g., capacitive, surface capacitive, projected capacitivetouch (PCT), in-cell capacitive, resistive, infrared, waveguide,dispersive signal touch (DST), in-cell optical, surface acoustic wave(SAW), bending wave touch (BWT), or force-based sensing technologies.Some multi-touch devices may allow two or more contact points with thesurface, allowing advanced functionality including, e.g., pinch, spread,rotate, scroll, or other gestures. Some touchscreen devices, including,e.g., Microsoft PIXELSENSE or Multi-Touch Collaboration Wall, may havelarger surfaces, such as on a table-top or on a wall, and may alsointeract with other electronic devices. Some I/O devices, displaydevices or group of devices may be augmented reality devices. The I/Odevices may be controlled by an I/O controller. The I/O controller maycontrol one or more I/O devices, such as, e.g., a keyboard and apointing device, e.g., a mouse or optical pen. Furthermore, an I/Odevice may also contain storage and/or an installation medium for thecomputing device. In still other embodiments, the computing device mayinclude USB connections (not shown) to receive handheld USB storagedevices. In further embodiments, an I/O device may be a bridge betweenthe system bus and an external communication bus, e.g. a USB bus, a SCSIbus, a FireWire bus, an Ethernet bus, a Gigabit Ethernet bus, a FiberChannel bus, or a Thunderbolt bus. In some embodiments the mobile device126 could be an optional component and would be utilized in a situationin which a paired wearable device is utilizing the mobile device 126 asadditional memory or computing power or connection to the internet.

Further, embodiments may include a wagering app 128, which is a programthat enables the user to place bets on individual plays in the liveevent 102, and display the audio and video from the live event 102,along with the available wagers on the mobile device 126. The wageringapp 128 allows the user to interact with the wagering network 108 inorder to place bets and provide payment/receive funds based on wageroutcomes.

FIG. 2 illustrates the user database 102. The database containsinformation about all of the users of the wagering network 108. Thisinformation includes, but is not limited to, a user identification,which is the user's name in this example but could also be any otherkind of alphanumeric identification. A device identification, for themobile device 126 on which the wagering app 128 is installed. The user'swager history, which is a data file in this example. The user's currentwallet/account balance, in this example the balance is in US dollars,but the system could use other currencies or non-monetary prizes such aspoints. The favorite player(s) indicated by each user through thefavorites module 120.

FIG. 3 illustrates the wagering module 118. The process begins with theuser logging into the wagering app 128, at step 300. The user can thenindicate, at step 302, that they wish to add or change a player orplayers on their favorites list. If the user indicates, at step 302,that they want to add or change to their favorites list, the favoritesmodule 120 is prompted, at step 304. The favorites module 120 isautomatically prompted, at step 304, if the user has not previously usedthe favorites module 120. Once the favorites module 120 has run, or ifthe user does not elect to make changes to their favorites list at step302, the module then retrieves, at step 306, the user's favorites listfrom the user database 110. Wagers available for plays in the live event102 are retrieved, at step 308, from the odds database 116 and filteredfor wagers that are applicable to at least on player on the user'sfavorites list. For example, user Joe Smith has Atlanta Falcons widereceiver Julio Jones as one of his indicated favorite players. There arewagers available on the next play that are applicable to Julio Jones aswell as the running back, the tight end, the second wide receiver andthe opposing team's defense. In this example, user Joe Smith would onlysee the tier 1 wagers available on Julio Jones, which is a yes/no on ifhe will catch a pass on the next play. The wagering module 118 thenpolls, at step 310 for the user's wager selection. If no wager selectionis received at step 310, the wagering module 118 proceeds to step 320 todetermine if the live event 102 is complete. If the user makes a wagerselection at step 310, the tiered wagering module 122 is prompted, atstep 312. Once the player's wager is completed through the tieredwagering module 122, the live event 102 is monitored to determine, atstep 314, the result of the play. The actual result of the play iscompared, at step 316, to the wagered upon result. In this example theuser Joe Smith wagered that Julio Jones would catch a pass, that itwould be for more than 10 yards and he would not score a touchdown. Theactual result of the play was a completed pass to Julio Jones for 14yards, and no touchdown. In this example, user Joe Smith won each of thethree parts of his wager. The user's wallet information in the userdatabase 110 is then updated, at step 318, to reflect the result of thewager. In this example, user Joe Smith has a starting balance of $500.His initial wager was $100 (at even money) that Julio Jones would catcha pass on the play. He indicated that the pass would be over 10 yards(at −200) for his tier 2 wager. He indicated that Julio Jones would notscore on the play (−400). In this example, user Joe Smith has made threeindependent $100 wagers, one at even money, one at −200, and one at−400. The first wager would pay out $100 on top of his initial wager,the second $50 and the third $25, bringing his account balance from $500to $675. While in this embodiment each wager tier is an independentbetting event, the wagers could be combined in one of the many waysknown in the art, such as a parlay or multiplier. The module thendetermines, at step 320, if the live event 102 was concluded. If thelive event 102 is not concluded, the module returns to step 308. If thelive event 102 has concluded, or the user has logged off the wageringapp 128, the program ends, at step 322.

FIG. 4 illustrates the favorites module 120. The process begins withreceiving a prompt, at step 400 from the wagering module 118 that theuser needs to create a favorites list because they have not yet createdone, or they have indicated they want to add to or change theirfavorites list. The user then indicates, at step 402, if they wish toadd to their favorites list or delete players from their favorites list.If the user indicates, at step 402, that they wish to add player(s) tothe favorites list, the module proceeds to step 408. If the userindicates, at step 402, that they wish to delete player(s) from theirfavorites list, their favorites list is retrieved from the user database110 and displayed, at step 404, on the user's mobile device 126. Theplayer(s) indicated by the user are removed, at step 406, from theirfavorites list in the user database 110, and the module proceeds to step416. If the user indicates, at step 402, that they wish to add player(s)to the favorites list, the user's wager history is retrieved, at step408, from the user database 110. The players active in the live event102 are identified, at step 410. The active players in the live event102 are compared to the user's wager history to identify the activeplayers the user has wagered on in the past, which are then sorted byhow often the user has wagered on each player in the past and displayed,at step 412, on the mobile device 126 with the most frequently wageredupon players at the top of the list. User selected player(s) from thelist are added, at step 414, to the user's favorites list in the userdatabase 110. The module then receives, at step 416, an indication fromthe user if they need to make additional changes to their favoriteslist. If more changes are needed, the module returns to step 402. If noadditional changes are indicated by the user at step 416, the processreturns, at step 418 to the wagering module 118.

FIG. 5 illustrates the tiered wagering module 122. The process beginswith receiving, at step 500, a prompt from the wagering module 122 thatthe user has indicated a wager selection. In this example user Joe Smithindicated a wager of $100 on Julio Jones catching a pass on the nextplay of the live event 102 at even money. The player type of the wageredupon player is identified, at step 502. In this example the wagered uponplayer, Julio Jones, is a receiver in an NFL game. The tier 2 wageroptions for the identified player type are retrieved, at step 504 fromthe tier database 124. The user's initial wager, in this example thatJulio Jones will catch a pass, is compared to the conditions for tier 2wagers in the tier database 124 to determine, at step 506 if a tier 2wager option is displayed on the mobile device 126. In this example, thetier 2 wager options for a wager that a receiver in an NFL game willcatch a pass, is an over/under bet. The distance of the over/under, inthis example ten yards, is determined by the odds calculation module 112based on information in the historical plays database 114. If the userJoe Smith had wagered against Julio Jones making a catch, there would beno tier 2 wagered offered and the process would proceed to step 516. Theuser's wager selection is received, at step 508. If the user indicatesnot taking the tier 2 wager the process proceeds to step 516. The tier 3wager options available based on the user's indication on the tier 2wager is retrieved, at step 510 from the tier database 124. The user'stier 2 wager, in this example that Julio Jones will catch a pass forover ten yards, is compared to the conditions for tier 3 wagers in thetier database 124 to determine, at step 512 if a tier 3 wager option isdisplayed on the mobile device 126. In this example, the tier 3 wageroptions for a wager that a receiver in an NFL game will catch a pass forover the over/under threshold, is a yes/no wager on a touchdown. If theuser Joe Smith had wagered that Julio Jones a catch for under theover/under threshold, there would be no tier 3 wagered offered and theprocess would proceed to step 516. The user's wager selection isreceived, at step 514. If the user indicates not taking the tier 3 wagerthe process proceeds to step 516. When the user's wager selections arecomplete, the module returns, at step 516 to the wagering module 118.

FIG. 6 illustrates the tier database 124. The database contains therules used by the tier wagering module 122 to determine which wagers tooffer a user based on their response to a previously offered wager. Inthis embodiment the rules are broken up first by sport, such as Americanfootball, baseball, basketball, etc., then by player type, such asreceiver or running back in football or a hitter or pitcher in baseball,etc. These categories of player then each have tiers of wagers, in thisexample there are three tiers of wagers. For a hitter in a baseball gamethe initial wager option could be contact/no contact. If the userindicates no contact on the tier 1 wager, they are presented withwalk/strikeout as tier 2 wager options. If the user indicates a walkthere is no tier 3 wager, while if they indicate strikeout for the tier2 wager, they are presented with looking/swinging for the tier 3 wager.While in this example an at-bat is used as the play interval for thewagers offered, wagers in baseball could also be made pitch to pitch,inning to inning, etc. For a running back in football the first tierwager could be the user indicating the player will catch the ball on apassing play or carry the ball on a running play. Each response has anover/under wager associated with it; this is the second tier wager.While this situation has the same wager type, an over/under, in tier 2the wagers would potentially be for different yardages due to thedifferent play type, run/pass. If the user selects the under for eitheroption, there is no tier 3 option. If the user indicates the over, anoption to wager yes/no on the player scoring a touchdown is presented asthe tier 3 wager.

The foregoing description and accompanying figures illustrate theprinciples, preferred embodiments and modes of operation of thoseembodiments. However, the embodiments should not be construed as beinglimited to the particular embodiments discussed above. Additionalvariations of the embodiments discussed above will be appreciated bythose skilled in the art.

Therefore, the above-described embodiments should be regarded asillustrative rather than restrictive. Accordingly, it should beappreciated that variations to those embodiments can be made by thoseskilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention asdefined by the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system, comprising: a wagering networkconfigured to host in-play wagering on a live sporting event; a userdatabase comprising a plurality of user preferences; and data identifiedfrom an action in the live sporting event wherein the system isconfigured to: provide odds for wagers on multiple potential outcomesfor a single play inside of the live sporting event, provide, on thewagering network, wagers on potential outcomes for a favorite player inthe single play of the live sporting event, wherein the potentialoutcomes are identified based on the identified action in the at leastone live sporting event, receive, from a user, a first selection of awager, construct, based on the first selection of the wager, a tieredwager by comparing the first selection of the wager to a plurality ofpossible wagers, retrieving, from the plurality of possible wagers, afurther wagering option, based on a determination that the furtherwagering option overlaps the first selection of the wager, and receivinga user determination to add the further wagering option to the firstselection of the wager to provide the tiered wager, perform polling ofwagering information on a play-by-play basis, and resolve a wager on apotential outcome in the play of the live sporting event upondetermination of a play result.
 2. The system of claim 1, furthercomprising: a favorites module configured to house the user preferences.3. The system of claim 2, wherein the favorites module is populated withone or more favorite players.
 4. The system of claim 3, wherein the oneor more favorite players are at least one of selected by the user andedited by the user.
 5. The system of claim 3, wherein the favoritesmodule is further configured to determine the one or more favoriteplayers.
 6. The system of claim 1, wherein the system is furtherconfigured to provide, on the wagering network, additional wager optionsbased on previous wager options by the user.
 7. The system of claim 6,wherein the system is further configured to, upon receiving apredetermined number of wagers on a non-favorite player, automaticallyadd the non-favorite player as a new favorite player in the favoritesmodule and provide, with the wagering network, additional wager optionsassociated with the new favorite player.
 8. The system of claim 7,wherein the wagering network provides more wager options for thefavorite player than for a non-favorite player.
 9. A computerimplemented method comprising, executing on a processor: displaying agambling game on a device; after determining that one or more players ina live sporting event have been identified, prompting a selection of theone or more players; displaying one or more first wager options for atleast one player in an action in the live sporting event; receiving, onthe device, a first selection of a wager with first wager odds from theone or more first wager options; constructing, based on the firstselection of the wager with the first wager odds, at least second wagerodds, wherein constructing the second wager odds comprises: upon thefirst selection of the wager, comparing the first selection of the wagerto a plurality of possible wagers; and retrieving, from the plurality ofpossible wagers, a further wagering option, based on a determinationthat the further wagering option overlaps the first selection of thewager; displaying the second wager odds.
 10. The computer implementedmethod of claim 9, further comprising: displaying a sortable list offavorite players.
 11. The computer implemented method of claim 9,further comprising: displaying a list of favorite players organized by asport played by the favorite player.
 12. The computer implemented methodof claim 9, further comprising: displaying a list of favorite playersorganized by a number of wagers placed on each player in the list offavorite players.
 13. The computer implemented method of claim 9,further comprising: displaying a list of players that can be selected asfavorite players.
 14. The computer implemented method of claim 9,further comprising: displaying results of the one or more wagers placedon the at least one favorite player for the play in the live sportingevent.